Frank Morton
Frank Morton (12 May 1869 - 15 December 1923) was an English-born Australian and New Zealand poet and journalist. Life Morton was born at Bromley, Kent, England, the son of Rhonda (Hookham) and James Morton, a plumber. He was educated at a private school at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire where he obtained a good grounding in the classics and French. At 16 years of age Morton migrated to Sydney, Australia, with his family. Early in 1889 he obtained work as a seaman and sailed in the Conqueror for America but left the ship at Hong Kong. He was a teacher there for a few months, and at the end of the year obtained work on The Straits Times. In 1892 he went to Calcutta and did editorial work on the Englishman, and in 1894 returned to Australia. He worked for various papers in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania for about 10 years before joining the staff of the Otago Daily Times in 1905. His most remarkable work in New Zealand, however, was his editing of a monthly journal the Triad, of which he frequently wrote the greater part himself under various pen names. In 1908 he published Laughter and Tears: Verses of a journalist, at Wellington, and in 1909 The Angel of the Earthquake, prose sketches with a poem. The Yacht of Dreams, a novel, was published in 1911. Morton returned to Australia about 1914 and contributed a significant amount of journalism both prose and verse to the Triad, The Bulletin, the Lone Hand, and others. His Verses for Marjorie, and some others were published in September 1916, which was followed by The Secret Spring (1919), and Man and the Devil, a Book of Shame and Pity (1922). He was a friend of David McKee Wright. He lived at Manly, New South Wales, for some years and died of acute nephritis, on 15 December 1923. His wife, Louise (Hollway) (whom he married in 1891) survived him with 2 sons and 2 daughters. Writing Morton was an excellent journalist, short story writer, and critic. J.F. Archibald regarded Morton as 1 of 3 journalists who "lifted journalism to the plane of literature". Recognition About 6 of Morton's poems have been included in anthologies. Publications Poetry *''Laughter and Tears: Verses of a journalist''. Wellington: New Zealand Times, 1908. *''Verses for Marjorie, and some others''. Melbourne: Lothian, 1916. *''The Secret Spring''. Sydney: privately published, 1919. *''Man and the Devil: A book of shame and pity''. Sydney: privately published, 1922. Novel *''The Yacht of Dreams''. London: Melrose, 1911. Short fiction *''The Angel of the Earthquake''. Melbourne: Atlas Press, 1909. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Frank Morton, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 24, 2014. See also *List of Australian poets *List of New Zealand poets References *B.G. Andrews, Martha Rutledge, 'Morton, Frank (1869 - 1923)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 10, Melbourne University Publishing, 1986, 598. Retrieved 2009-10-19 * Notes External links ;Poems *"The Passionate Poet" at Matilda *Frank Morton (1869-1923) in the Australian Poetry Library ("A Twisted Idyl"). ;About *Frank Morton, 1908 in Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand *Morton, Frank (1869-1923) in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Category:Australian poets Category:Australian journalists Category:Australian people of English descent Category:1869 births Category:1923 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:New Zealand poets Category:English-language poets